Friday, September 21, 2012

Long lines of people queued up outside area stores before dawn.Some of them got there as early as midnight.All were filled with expectation.What gives?Take your pick:1.) Lady Gaga concert tickets went on sale.2.) Unemployed job seekers hoping for a break.3.) A practice run for Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when hordes of shoppers traditionally go bonkers, raiding stores for early Christmas deals as if their lives depend on it.If you said No. 3, you’re close.Last Friday morning untold hundreds — thousands? — of eager Manatee County consumers were hot to buy Apple’s new iPhone 5, ponying up $200 and twice that for the latest smart phone with all the bells and whistles.